Wednesday, 27 February 2008

Quilt As You Go

Here as promised is my little guide to how I do my Quilt-as-you-go..... You probably all know this method but there may be some-one who hasn't come across it.. Here goes

1. Quilt all your blocks and trim them to EXACTLY the same size. I lost a few points on my stars here but no matter.

2. You need 2 strips for each section now. A 1 inch strip which will be on the front of your quilt and a 1 and 3/4 strip for the back. The larger strip needs to be pressed in half edge to edge.

These should be the length of your trimmed blocks.

3. Pin the 1 inch strip along the edge of your block ( right sides together ) and the bigger one on the back lining up all the raw edges. Sew through all layers with a quarter inch seam.

4. Get the next block you want to join up and line the other unsewn edge of the 1 inch strip to the edge of the block right sides together. Sew.

The front should look like this -

5. All you need to do now is flip over the back strip and slip stitch it in place.

6. That's it. Keep adding blocks into rows. Joining the rows together is the same method but obviously using bigger joining strips - keep measuring.

This method has pros and cons but overall I like it. I have made several big quilts this way as I struggle to quilt them on my domestic sewing machine. I can see a lot of people will be put off by all the hand sewing on the back but for me it is no problem as I LOVE binding. Very relaxing !!

You can use up any odd sizes of wadding ( batting ) and you don't need a great big piece of fabric for the back. Because you are quilting on small pieces you can experiment with your machine quilting as you're not struggling with a great big quilt.

I am plugging away at my Carolina Crossroads quilt and am being very focused as I want this finished. It is not going to be another UFO for the pile. I keep wavering and looking at other things I want to do but so far have resisted - lol ! Once the main section is done I will look at borders - nothing fancy as the blocks are so busy anyway. I have all the rows joined together now and am just starting to get them together. I have never done quilt-as-you-go on an on-point quilt before but so far, so good.

Onto other things. I have got my PIF gifts posted out and they were all received this week. These went to Julie, Tami and Beth. Here's what I made

These little sewing caddies. There are loads of pockets inside and they hold quite a lot of stuff. I have one I made myself and I try to keep it filled so I can just grab it when I go to my quilt club.

I went last night and our lovely fabric seller was there - I bought these. Yummy !! I will not be temped to use these yet though. I will be strong, I will be strong . . . .

68 comments:

Hi Andrea, this has got to be the best tut for quilt-as-you-go.My gran mentioned it to me as I am doing a Le Moyne star quilt for hubby and myself and I want it to be quite large, around king sized. As I am fairly new to quilting and it will be such alot of quilt to do on my pfaff she put this forward as an idea. I think though that I may have to use a different method as the patten I have chosen the blocks to go in won't allow for strips to be attached. When I have a few blocks completed I will place them and send you a pic to see what you think, and you could give me some advice. I love the blocks that you used.

Thanks for the tutorial Andrea. I think I'm going to try that in one of my next projects. Do you add the borders in the same way? I mean do you first quilt them and then sew them to the rest of the quilt?

Thank you for the tutorial. I have thought about trying to quilt as you go as I have to quilt on my home machine too. (I would some to have a long-arm someday, but that's a way off!) I'm going to have to give it a try. LOVE the fabrics you picked up too. What wonderful, warm colors!

I used this method of quilting for my Dresden Plate, except I did it wothout the sashing. I'd certainly use it again as I too struggle with large quilts in my standard machine.It's so easy and makes everything more managable. You did a great job of your tutorial.Keep at it with the Carolina Crossroads, nearly there.

Hi Andrea, Thank you so much for this - I have been wanting to try a "quilt as you go" project, and you make it so clear that I feel ready to go! I love your blog.A transatlantic hug from another Andrea, in Minnesota, USA

I have often wondered how exactly this was done. I actually thought it was harder than this. THANK YOU so much!!!! I will have to try this. Sometimes I get nervous about putting a large quilt in my machine and I don't because I get afraid that I will get stressed and not finish it.

I love your sewing caddys!!! Such a wonderful idea! Your new fabrics a beautiful, it would be hard not to start using them!!!Kristie

Love the sewing caddies.I must admit...have had several friends make this ...but they usually add the "wadding" as you call it...to the sashing strips after sewing....then you get a huge lump there. Yours look great.I hate machine quilting larger quilts...am battling on cot sized one for DD's baby. Can't wait to get a long arm.Even just to baste some of my larger quilts for hand quilting ...what a pleasure.

I've seen instruction sheets on the quilt as you go method but I really liked your tutorial. I was much better to follow. I will have to give it a try. Years ago I was thinking of making one and cut a bunch of left over batting into nine inch squares. That is as far as I got -LOL I must go dig them out.

Andrea, a woman after my own heart. I find this method the easiest quilt-as-you-go method I have ever done. As I hate hand work, I sew my back (folded one) by machine also. Pin it overr the stitch line and you can sew it on the machine and the front will look like you have stitched in the ditch of your sashing. I also machine stitch my binding using this method. Love your blog.Jules

Wonderful tutorial. Thank you so much for posting it. I have wanted to try this method for some time but got so confused by everything I read - this makes it all clear. Now to try it with my Baltimore Blocks. Thanks again.

Great tutorial. I have heard of this method before, although I've never done it myself. Thanks for reminding me that I don't have to struggle with a whole quilt through the machine ... I can break it down into manageable chunks :)

Love your QAYG blocks. (also love the picture on the top of your blog of the kitties on the quilt!) I just recognized that cool sewing caddy you made. I saw it yesterday on someone's blog as they received it from you, I guess. Can't remember who - but admired it then and am admiring it NOW!! Very pretty.

Thankyou for the nice clear tutorial! I am going to try that, as I do find it a real chore quilting on my domestic machine. My neck & shoulders are too old & tired! haha.I love the little PIFs you made.

Dear Andrea, Thanks for the wonderful tutorial, I have already done the blocks but was stuck about how to put them together. This really helped. I was born in Hereford and my mother was Welsh. I love looking at your blog.

Thanks for the tut, Andrea. It seems much easier than others I have seen; so much so that I think I will try it. Have a Betty Boop quilt to do for grand daughter's 18th birthday and was beginning to despair as my wrist has been playing up big time, but I think I'll be able to manage it it smaller pieces. thanks again veejay

I was searching for a tutorial on quilt as you go and found several yours being one :O)... Yours is the easiest by far to understand :O)... I read the others and where I am sure they are good :O), I didn't totally understand how to do them LOL... I totally get yours!!! THANKS ...Going to give this a try!

Hi, Just found yr tutorial on Quilt as you Go and found it really interesting - can't wait to try it!! I have however, searched online for an image of a FINISHED quilt done in this way and not found one. Do you think please you could show a finished quilt back?

Nice tutorial. Since I machine stich my sashing,using a wide decorative stitch, I use the larger sashing strip on the front side. This allows me to control the stitching on the sashing so the front sashing has the stitching aligned well. It is not as noticeable if the stitching on the back side is not perfect.

Hi, my name is Sarah from Italy, thank's a lot for this tutorial, I have open a little Craft firm and I love so much patchwork. I have a toyota machine so it's very difficult for me quilt my work, I will try the ASYG. -Your tutorial is very clear.Sorry for my bad Englishsarah

I am excited to try the quilt as you go. I have a question. Is it possible to use a 3 inch strip? I assume I would need to use batting strips with a wider strip. I am making a photo memory quilt for my graddaughters graduation and this would sure be easier to assemble the quilt. Has anyone tried using a wider strip? I will have to experiment and will let you know.

This quilt-as-you-go looks SO doable. I am self taught and quilt by hand. I literally take my work with me and work on it here and there. Baby blankets are fairly easy but the bigger the quilt the more daunting it is. I have one project that I put aside as the finished quilt will be larger than the King size batting I now have hope that I can finish this quilt. Thanks, Kathleen from Chicago

Andrea, I was looking around trying to find a new way to do QAYG. There isn't one. This is still the best, and I too love the hand work. I have even begun piecing by had with INKLINGO.COM. Your tutorial is great.Thanks,Frummie in too, too hot Florida.

I have used this machine quilt-as-you-go method and I do not hand slip stitch but simply pin well and machine stitch in the ditch from the side opposite the pins and it works like a charm. This is the only method I use now as I was paying $80 to have my quilts professionally done. I donated 5 quilts done this way to a camp VIP suite and they loved them.

Free motion quilting has always been my favorite, but quilting anything larger than 12x12 on my vintage Singer is a frustrating chore. Thank you for the easy to understand instructions! Now I can enjoy (rather than dread) the quilting process :)

I use your tutorial all the time - my greatest accomplishment so far - my Carolina Christmas - was done with your tute - I also added a pieced border. I am now attempting Double Delight set ON POINT with the same method. I'm cuting the sashing now so we'll see how it turns out! = DDD If you would like to see a pic of my finished Carolina Christmas you can go to my blog katiesquiltsandcrafts.blogspot.com

Hello, thank you for your qayg tutorial, it is very clear and easy to follow, just one question though, what aboutt he batting for the sashing strips, do you add this or not bother? many thanks, Annie Dunn

This looks perfect for what I'm trying to do and is definitely the easist description I found on using the quilt as you go method. I've got a 6' plus square quilt to put together and wasn't looking forward to try and manage it all together!

Andrea, Thank you so much for your post. I have been wanting to try this method of quilting. I paid $30 for a book and have been reading it, but it is so complicated. You make this so easy, thank you again.

This looks great! I'm making a queen size quilt for my daughter, and this is how I'm going to do it. I wonder if you pretend the front is the back can you machine stitch instead of hand stitch the sashing? Thank you for the great pictures too!

I am just looking in to the quilt as you go method as like you i struggle with large quilts so am looking for easier methods so am interested in your quilt as you go which i hope to have a go at once i finish the queen size quilt i am doing now As i have to do another one that size for my DD wedding in OctHugs Janice

Thank you so much for the little "quilt as you go" tutorial!! This is a new concept to me as well as me being new to quilting in general, so this tutorial will help immensely when I try to make a quilt for my son's bed. Thanks again!

Love quilt-as-you-go because I do not have a long arm. But, I do it a bit different because I do not want to do the hand stitching. Instead of sewing the blocks together from the front, I stitch them together from the back. Then the top strip is folded over the stitch line and can be machine stitched down. If there has been a "miss" of the stitch in the ditch, then it shows on the back and not the front.

Hi Andrea, thank you for posting this tutorial which has helped me complete my first quilt using this method.....I am converted as I hate struggling with a large quilt on a small domestic machine and have linked this to my latest blog post.

Hi! I have a question. I'm a beginning quilter and I'm very interested in starting a quilt as you go project, as soon as I'm through with the king size monster quilt I'm working on now. My question is, Why do you use a larger piece of sashing on the back? Thanks!Betty Smith, Columbus, MS. USA

Hi! I have a question. I'm a beginning quilter and I'm very interested in starting a quilt as you go project, as soon as I'm through with the king size monster quilt I'm working on now. My question is, Why do you use a larger piece of sashing on the back? Thanks!Betty Smith, Columbus, MS. USA

Oh how awesome! Thank you for explaining quilt as you go! I haven't tried, just finished pinning a full size quilt and am kicking myself because I didn't check into this sooner! So this one I will be fighting to quilt on the sewing machine. But I will definitely have to try the quilt as you go!!!

Oh how awesome! Thank you for explaining quilt as you go! I haven't tried, just finished pinning a full size quilt and am kicking myself because I didn't check into this sooner! So this one I will be fighting to quilt on the sewing machine. But I will definitely have to try the quilt as you go!!!

Wow! I am so glad that I just found your post. It REALLY makes so much sense, and I am HAPPY, HAPPY! I will sure do this. I need to do something small so that I can still fit it into my day. Thank YOU!!

Hi, I am new to quilting and did not want to struggle with a big quilt under the machine so thought this method would be ideal. I've watched a few YouTube demo's but most tell you to put the wider piece on the front of the blocks; I can see your method of putting them on the back makes sense as you will be sewing the binding the same way

Hi Andrea, I found your post by googleing Quilt as you go and put my first blocks together last night. Your instructions were very precise and the technique worked great for me. Thanks for sharing your expertise.

Andrea, great instructions. I love q-a-y-g, as it gives me the opportunity to practice free-motion quilting without having to manipulate a great big quilt in the machine. It's good to see so many others who enjoy it too...

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About Me

I'm 42 years old. Married with 2 children aged 20 and 14 yo. Been quilting for 7 years but always sewn for as long as I can remember. As well as quilts I make curtains and do clothes alterations and dressmaking.